(IsraelNN.com) Reports of an alleged IAF strike on a Hamas arms convoy in
Sudan have drawn attention to an arms network running from Iran, via the Persian
Gulf and Yemen to Sudan, Egypt, and Hamas-ruled Gaza. Noted by analysts in the
past, the network forms part of a larger, overt, close relationship maintained
by both Iran and Hamas with the regime of Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum, according
to Global Research in International Affairs Center senior researcher Jonathan
Spyer.

The regime of Brigadier Omar al-Bashir in Sudan is, with the exception of the
Hamas enclave in Gaza, the only overtly Islamist and pro-Iranian government in
the Arabic-speaking world. Sudan is an acknowledged member of the Iran-led
regional alliance, which includes Syria, Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic
Jihad.

American officials said Israeli planes bombed a convoy of trucks in
Sudan in January believed to be carrying arms to Gaza during the weeks it was
fighting a war with Hamas there. Two American officials who are privy to
classified intelligence assessments said Iran had been involved in the effort to
smuggle weapons to Gaza and that an operative with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps had gone to Sudan to coordinate the effort. One American military
official said the strike was one of a series of Israeli attacks against arms
shipments bound for Gaza. (New York Times)

See also Report:
Second Airstrike Hit Iranian Ship at SeaA new report by Sudanese
sources cited an additional strike on a ship possibly making its way to Sudan
from Iran. "There were indeed two strikes in Sudan, in January and February,"
Sudan's deputy transportation minister told Israel's Channel 10 television on
Thursday. "The second strike was against a ship at sea and it was completely
destroyed," another Sudanese official said. (Jerusalem Post)

See
also Israel,
U.S. Agreed to Address Arms Shipments in East Africa - Patrick
MartinA senior Israeli official said Tuesday, "what we learned from Lebanon
and from Gaza is that there is a need to prevent forces such as Hamas or
Hizbullah from rearming....Is it possible to be more pro-active in intercepting
weapons before they arrive at the frontier? That's why we signed an MOU with
Secretary of State Rice to intercept weapons shipments." The memorandum of
understanding, signed Jan. 16 in Washington, calls for the U.S. and its partners
to work to gether to address the problem of the supply of arms to Hamas and
other militant forces in Gaza. It lists the areas where such arms shipments may
occur as "the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Eastern Africa." Sudan is
an Eastern African country. Former Israeli Air Force commander Avihu Bin
Nun described to Israel's Army Radio the enormous difficulty in carrying out
such an operation: "The planes had to pass over areas that have defenses against
missiles and against other air forces; this had to be done at night, the target
had to be hit precisely and not something else. This is quite an operation. And
you also don't have years to prepare for this kind of operation." (Globe and
Mail-Canada)

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(IsraelNN.com) Reports of an alleged IAF strike on a Hamas arms convoy in
Sudan have drawn attention to an arms network running from Iran, via the Persian
Gulf and Yemen to Sudan, Egypt, and Hamas-ruled Gaza. Noted by analysts in the
past, the network forms part of a larger, overt, close relationship maintained
by both Iran and Hamas with the regime of Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum, according
to Global Research in International Affairs Center senior researcher Jonathan
Spyer.

The regime of Brigadier Omar al-Bashir in Sudan is, with the exception of the
Hamas enclave in Gaza, the only overtly Islamist and pro-Iranian government in
the Arabic-speaking world. Sudan is an acknowledged member of the Iran-led
regional alliance, which includes Syria, Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic
Jihad.

American officials said Israeli planes bombed a convoy of trucks in
Sudan in January believed to be carrying arms to Gaza during the weeks it was
fighting a war with Hamas there. Two American officials who are privy to
classified intelligence assessments said Iran had been involved in the effort to
smuggle weapons to Gaza and that an operative with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps had gone to Sudan to coordinate the effort. One American military
official said the strike was one of a series of Israeli attacks against arms
shipments bound for Gaza. (New York Times)

See also Report:
Second Airstrike Hit Iranian Ship at SeaA new report by Sudanese
sources cited an additional strike on a ship possibly making its way to Sudan
from Iran. "There were indeed two strikes in Sudan, in January and February,"
Sudan's deputy transportation minister told Israel's Channel 10 television on
Thursday. "The second strike was against a ship at sea and it was completely
destroyed," another Sudanese official said. (Jerusalem Post)

See
also Israel,
U.S. Agreed to Address Arms Shipments in East Africa - Patrick
MartinA senior Israeli official said Tuesday, "what we learned from Lebanon
and from Gaza is that there is a need to prevent forces such as Hamas or
Hizbullah from rearming....Is it possible to be more pro-active in intercepting
weapons before they arrive at the frontier? That's why we signed an MOU with
Secretary of State Rice to intercept weapons shipments." The memorandum of
understanding, signed Jan. 16 in Washington, calls for the U.S. and its partners
to work to gether to address the problem of the supply of arms to Hamas and
other militant forces in Gaza. It lists the areas where such arms shipments may
occur as "the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Eastern Africa." Sudan is
an Eastern African country. Former Israeli Air Force commander Avihu Bin
Nun described to Israel's Army Radio the enormous difficulty in carrying out
such an operation: "The planes had to pass over areas that have defenses against
missiles and against other air forces; this had to be done at night, the target
had to be hit precisely and not something else. This is quite an operation. And
you also don't have years to prepare for this kind of operation." (Globe and
Mail-Canada)